Gillingham manager Martin Allen says 1-1 draw at Accrington with ten men is a great result

Gills saw their lead at the top of nPower
League 2 cut to two points after keeper Stuart Nelson was sent-off
for a professional foul allowing James Beattie to cancel out Myles
Weston’s first-half opener from the spot.

Despite late chances at both ends, there were
no further goals in the heavy rain and strong winds of the north
west.

A drenched boss Allen said: “It is a great
result away from home. The team have given it everything they’ve
got, they were very difficult conditions with the wind and the
rain, but we stuck in there.

“I thought for 70 minutes they weren’t really
in it but for a mad 10 minutes they looked like they were going to
score, but we regrouped and at the end it looked like we were going
to score.

“I don’t think they had too many shots. We
restricted them to a few, mainly long range.”

He revealed: “I am not sure about the
sending-off, I couldn’t really see from where I was whether it was
or it wasn’t. I’m not doing a Wenger technique.

“But even when we were down to 10-men we were
still pushing.”

Gills have gone down 7-4 and 4-3 in the last
two years at the Crown Ground and Allen said: “Coming up here to
get a point is always good. I’ve been up here a few times and been
spanked and I understand we’ve let in 11 in the last couple of
years so we’ve improved in that respect.

“It’s a tough ground to come and play,
especially for the third time in a week. It’s a good point for
us.”

Almost 300 Gills fans huddled behind a goal on
an exposed terrace, unsheltered from the rain and Allen admitted:
“I would like to go up to every single one of them and shake them
by the hand and give them a big hug.”